SMALLER MAMMALS OF NORTH AMERICA 



431 



like and grasps the plant stem with one hand, 

 a long projecting tubercle on the "heel" of the 

 hand opposing the lingers like a thumb and 

 giving a good grasp, so that it can pull plants 

 down to be bitten off with the sharp front 

 teeth. Sometimes it climbs up a few feet into 

 a bush or small branching tree after succulent 

 shoots. 



The mountain-beaver has the interesting 

 habit of gathering stores of green plant food 

 much like that of the cony on the mountain 

 tops, but appears to be more methodical in its 

 ways, gathering the stems of such plants as 

 grasses, ferns, and lupins, as well as twigs of 

 various bushes and carrying them in bundles 

 as large as can be held in the mouth, the butts 

 of the stems neatly laid together. These little 

 bundles of "hay" are placed side by side about 

 the entrances of the burrows, with the butts 

 all parallel on sticks or other support to keep 

 them as clear as possible from the ground. 

 They are left thus for a day or more to cure 

 before being carried into the subterranean 

 store-rooms. 



Chief among the four-footed enemies of the 

 mountain-beaver are the fisher and bobcat, and 

 an eagle has been seen keeping close watch at 

 the entrance of their burrows. 



THE COMMON WOODCHUCK, OR 



AMERICAN MARMOT (Marmota 



monax and its relatives) 



{For illustration, see page 432) 



The woodchuck or "groundhog" is a typical 

 marmot, with coarse hair, heavy body, short 

 neck, short, bushy tail, powerful legs, and feet 

 armed with strong claws for digging. When 

 fully grown it averages about ten pounds in 

 weight. Its usual color is a grizzled brown, 

 but in some districts black, or melanistic, indi- 

 viduals are not uncommon. 



Marmots are common to Europe, Asia, and 

 North America. The group contains many 

 species and geographic races varying in size 

 and color. The Alpine marmot of Europe is 

 probably the most familiar of the Old World 

 species and the woodchuck the best known in 

 America. 



North America contains several species of 

 marmots, their joint territory extending from 

 coast to coast over the northern parts of the 

 continent and from southern Labrador, the 

 southern shores of Hudson Bay and Great 

 Slave Lake, and central Alaska southward to 

 northern Alabama, and along the high moun- 

 tains to New Mexico and the southern Sierra 

 Nevada of California. The common wood- 

 chuck is well known to every dweller in the 

 countryside of the Eastern States and Canada, 

 where it occurs from sea-level to near the tops 

 of the highest mountains, at altitudes of over 

 4,000 feet. 



It is a familiar habitant of fields and grassy 

 hillsides, especially where bordering woodland 

 offers safe retreat. In such places it digs bur- 

 rows under stone walls, rocks, ledges, old 

 stumps, or even out in the open grass-grown 



fields. It commonly lives in the midst of the 

 forest, where its dens are located in a variety 

 of situations. The burrows are marked by lit- 

 tle mounds of earth at the entrances and or- 

 dinarily contain from twenty to forty feet of 

 branching galleries, one or more of which end 

 in a rounded chamber about a foot in diam- 

 eter, well lined with dry grass and leaves. 



Within these warm nests the females bring 

 forth from three to nine blind and helpless 

 young about the last of April or early in May. 

 A few weeks later the young appear about the 

 entrance of the burrows sunning themselves 

 and playing with one another, but usually 

 ready to disappear at the first alarm. At times, 

 however, they are surprisingly stupid and may 

 be captured with ease. Woodchucks have prac- 

 tically no economic value. Their flesh, while 

 occasionally eaten, is little esteemed, and their 

 coarsely haired pelts are worthless as fur. 



The woodchuck is a sluggish and stupid ani- 

 mal, which does not ordinarily go far from its 

 burrow, but at certain seasons, especially in 

 spring, wanders widely, as though looking over 

 its territory before locating for the summer. 

 It has much curiosity and often sits upright 

 on its hind feet to look about, remaining for 

 a long time as motionless as a statue. When 

 one is driven into its burrow, if a person ap- 

 proaches quietly and whistles, it will often 

 raise its head in the entrance and look about 

 to satisfy its curiosity. 



Its only note is a short shrill whistle, which 

 it utters explosively at frequent intervals when 

 much alarmed. At such times it also chatters 

 its teeth with a rattling sound as owls some- 

 times clatter their beaks. 



Owing to their mainly diurnal habits and 

 persistence in living in and about the borders 

 of fields, woodchucks are among the most 

 widely known of our smaller mammals, and 

 have long been the favorite game of the coun- 

 try boy and his dog. When cornered they will 

 fight savagely and with their strong incisors 

 inflict severe wounds. 



They feed on grasses, clover, and other suc- 

 culent plants, including various cultivated crops, 

 especially vegetables in field and garden, where 

 they sometimes do much damage. The holes 

 and earth mounds they make in fields, in addi- 

 tion to feeding on and trampling down grasses 

 or grain, excite a strong feeling against them, 

 and farmers everywhere look upon them as a 

 nuisance. In New Hampshire so great was the 

 prejudice against them that in 1883 a law was 

 passed placing a bounty of ten cents each on 

 them : "Provided, That no bounty shall be paid 

 for any woodchuck killed on Sunday." 



Unlike many rodents, the woodchucks do not 

 lay up stores of food for winter. As summer 

 draws to an end they feed heavily and become 

 excessively fat. On the approach of cold 

 weather they become more and more sluggish, 

 appearing above ground with decreasing fre- 

 quency until from the end of September to the 

 first of November, according to locality, they 

 retire to their burrows and begin the long 

 hibernating sleep which continues until the ap- 

 proach of spring. 



